Chauffeurdrive tours of Ireland with Dove and Dave Hogan

My tour with Barry Sullivan and friends, Lynn, Rich, and Cindy, began in Dublin this morning as we began our journey from there on our way to Kinsale in the far south in county Cork. Our first stop was at the famous Rock of Cashel, a fortification,dating back to the fourth or fifth century, which later was to become the seat of the Kings of the province of Munster, and a great cathedral and monastic settlement of the Catholic church in that area.

A successful army marches on a full tummy, as far as i am concerned anyway, and we made sure of that in the town of Cashel, where we had a great lunch today in O,Neill's restaurant in the centre of the town. My new friends wanted to "Go Irish", and what better way to start than to have your first feed of our most popular Irish meal, good old bacon and cabbage. Barry was the odd man out, as he had a beef casserole, which is indeed another Irish favourite. The meal was delicious and loved by all.

It was so good that we had to try a couple of our Irish favourite desserts. Here we have Lynn tucking into her choice, a Banoffi pie, which is a recent invention, with Bananna, toffee, fresh cream, all on a biscuit base, similiar to a cheesecake base. You can clearly see that she was enjoying this, so much so, that eventhough she had agreed to share,we had difficulty getting a piece ourselves.

This actually led to me having to order a separate plate of bread and butter pudding,smothered in gorgeous custard and fresh cream, which i, of course, shared with everybody, even Lynn.

We finally made it to Kinsale and our hotel there, the lovely Kinsale Carlton, situated in a beautiful peaceful area on the outskirts of Kinsale, overlooking Oysterhaven Bay. I would highly recommend this hotel, which has a private bus service, which takes you in to, and out of, Kinsale, so you have no need to worry about driving yourself.

Another view of Oysterhaven Bay from inside our hotel.

Having had time to themselves in the town of Kinsale later, i collected my pals and brought them to this area outside the town, where the view of the harbour, and surrounding areas,is truly beautiful. Here we have Cindy, standing, and enjoying the view, illuminated by a real Irish moon. WHO SAID THAT IT ALWAYS RAINS IN IRELAND.

Now Lynn got in on the act for this lovely photo. Surely the day is close at hand when i am going to be recognised, and acclaimed, for my undoubted talent as a photographer, among other things.

Well, we had to finish with a group photo, and here we have, from the left, Lynn, Cindy, Barry, with Rich in the back.
This was a really great start to another tour, and a day which i know we all really enjoyed.
Tomorrow we head for the harbour town of Cove, at the mouth of the River Lee, and the main port of the city of Cork. This port town was the final stop off port for the tragic Titanic, and it was from this port that the vast majority of our emigrants sailed as they made off to foreign lands to escape this country during our famine, and the many troubled years following the famine.
Come along with us as we journey through the south and south west of this magical land.